You Can Keep The Male Lead - Chapter 69

The lamp illuminated the hallway stretched out in front of the office. And the people who were working overtime were still busy.

Enoch picked up one of the lamps and turned left when we exited the office door, the hallway relatively dark and quiet. A few steps later, I saw another door.

When I opened it, I saw a familiar person inside. “Lia?”

“Oh, Madam.”

Lia was taking out familiar items from a large bag and organizing them.

Confused and at a loss for words, I turned to Enoch, and he said, “I thought you would stay here for a while, so I sent a message to the mansion. Wouldn’t it be better to have someone familiar with you to stay comfortably?”

“Yes, but… I don’t know how long.”

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“Then, take a break for today. After all, you won’t be able to see all of those documents all night.”

“Wait, Your High–!”

Despite my call, Enoch shut the door and left.

“I didn’t know I’d be staying overnight.”

Well, it was fine either way. Going to that townhouse was a bit cumbersome now, so I was thinking of looking for another house.

Until then, as long as I could buy time here, I had no complaints.

I sat on the sofa for a while and looked around the room. There was a bed, a couch, a small table, a dresser, and a door that seemed to lead to the bathroom. It was more spacious than I thought.

Perhaps because the employees often worked overtime, the overnight room was quite luxurious and comfortable. Given the situation, the Imperial Palace staff welfare was good, wasn’t it?

Lia moved behind me and untied my hair. I felt my long, wavy hair falling down my neck and shoulders.

She massaged my shoulders and asked, “Would you like to wash up first? Shall I prepare the bath water?”

“Should I? Ah, wait,” I jumped up and left the room. I thought of bringing some papers from the office and reading them.

A single lamp hung on the hallway wall, which was originally dark and empty. Enoch must have placed it there earlier. The sight made me smile.

I walked down the hallway and stood in front of the office door. However, I heard a rumbling noise from inside.

‘I thought everyone left already.’

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When I slowly opened the door, I saw a black afterimage disappear from the room, leaving Enoch alone, standing by the open window.

“Your Highness? Were you alone?”

Enoch looked bewildered for a moment and then skillfully changed his expression. He asked, “Count, why are you back?”

“I wanted to look at the documents a little more before going to bed. There are so many…” I looked at him calmly and approached my desk.

The black blur a while ago was probably Enoch’s Shadow Knights. I read about them occasionally in the novel.

While I was curious about what happened, I decided not to ask.

It was a very windy day today.

A strong wind blew through the open window, and my loose hair fluttered. Some of the piles of paper threatened to get blown away, so I pressed the rest with something heavy to make sure they wouldn’t fly in the wind.

Suddenly, I felt a hand touching the tip of my hair from behind.

I turned around in surprise, and before I knew it, Enoch, who had approached me, dropped his hand and stepped back.

“Your Highness?”

“Ah, well, the wind…”

“The wind?”

“Ah, um… without realizing it, my hands.” Enoch blushed and lowered his gaze. No, it’s not something to apologize for.

I looked at him, grabbed my hair, and shook it in front of him. “Are you curious? You can just touch it.”

Hesitating, Enoch touched the tip lightly and then let it go. His face was a lot redder than before, and he looked away.

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“I… I’ll go back to my room.”

“Yes, there’s no need to rush. There’s a lot of time.”

I left without answering him. A lot of time, huh? I knew we didn’t have a deadline, but I had to hurry to get my money back before Rupert arrived.

After returning to my room and taking a bath, I sat by the lamp to review some more paperwork.

“Oh, this person seems fine.”

As I read through the papers, someone stood out. However, there was a trace of someone putting a checkmark on the person’s profile.

Curiously, I set it aside before looking at the rest of the documents. I only fell asleep at dawn.

A few days later, when I saw almost all the documents, I couldn’t help but wonder.

There was always a checkmark above the names of people I thought were okay. Eight out of ten did.

I asked Enoch once, but he just glossed over it, saying he didn’t know. So this morning, when Enoch was not yet at work, I asked Liam, his assistant, again.

Liam seemed busy today as always, but he couldn’t miss the opportunity now that Enoch wasn’t here yet. Liam still had his nose in the document he was holding and answered my question with a glance.

“Oh, it’s a separate check of the people we saw first and picked.”

“Is that so? Then why do I have to look at them all…”

“Ah, that, uh, so… Because it’d be nice to look at it carefully again? Isn’t that what he ordered? His Highness the Crown Prince?”

Liam suddenly panicked and started sweating profusely, and then he got up and walked out the door.

I frowned as I reflected on his words. “…what, you’ve already chosen everything, and you let me see everything? That many?”

As I muttered to myself, the door opened, and two officers and an assistant secretary entered. The office had two assistants, one male, and one female.

The one who accompanied the officers was the male assistant, Lennon Campbell.

“It’s gotten pretty cool these days, so it’s worth taking a walk.”

At Flora’s words, Lennon shook his head. “It must be because Miss Flora is close to home, but I’m not. I must ride a carriage.”

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“That’s right.”

Lennon Campbell was one of the few commoners working as an assistant secretary, and working in the Imperial Palace as a commoner meant that he was an excellent resource.

He probably didn’t know yet, but he might receive a barony soon.

After listening in on their conversation, I asked Flora, “…Did you come from your home? Isn’t it too late to go home after working overtime?”

At my question, the two looked at each other. Flora answered, “Except for Liam, we don’t work overtime no matter how busy we are.”

Lennon Campbell nodded in response. “She’s right. The Crown Prince’s office has been assigned to this place through tremendous competition because we have little overtime compared to other places.”

“And the sleeping room is smelly and cramped… The bed creaks, too. It’s better to go home even if it’s late.” Flora shuddered and went to her seat.

What the.

I always thought that the welfare of the Imperial Palace employees was good. What’s the room assigned to me?

Soon after, the female assistant, Mila Burton, entered. The daughter of Viscount Burton, Mila excelled in school and volunteered to work here at the Imperial Palace.

It was a different move from that of noble girls who usually preferred tutoring over the Academy, and getting married when they got older.

I admired Mila Burton, but it seemed the feeling wasn’t mutual. From the day we were introduced, she didn’t look kindly at me.

Viscount Adam Johnston had the same reaction but gradually softened up as time went on. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the same case for Mila Burton. We’re already on the third day, but I could hardly get close.

‘It doesn’t really matter.’

I didn’t come here to make friends, so it didn’t matter as long as they didn’t harm me.

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Anyway, the problem was Crown Prince Enoch. Now that I knew that the documents had already been reviewed, it seemed that there was no need to stay in the palace overtime.

But Enoch lied to me. He made me stay in that room and gave me so many documents.

His intentions seemed clear. Maybe he’s worried about keeping me in that house.

“He should have been honest,” I unconsciously voiced out my thoughts and felt several eyes on me at the sound.

I coughed and looked down at the documents.

Ten in total, I looked over them carefully once again. Hmm, it would be difficult for me to decide on my own from here on.

Soon, the door opened, and Enoch and Liam, who had gone out earlier, entered.

Judging by Enoch’s flustered expression, it seemed that Liam had reported about our conversation earlier. And as soon as he came in, I jumped up as if I had been waiting and stepped forward.

As Enoch walked, he hesitated and looked at me anxiously. Seeing him like that made me want to tease him even more.

But I persevered and said what I wanted to say. “Your Highness, I have looked through all the documents you mentioned. So I’d like you to preside over the meeting.”

He looked at me with his mouth slightly open, seemingly nervous about what I said.

“Your Highness?”

“I-I understand.”

And soon, at my request, a meeting was held. The subject of the discussion, of course, was to determine who had the most money and who was most reliable.